Thomas F. Byrnes
| death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | residence = | nationality = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | employer = | occupation = | title = | salary = | networth = | height = | weight = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | religion = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} Inspector Thomas F. Byrnes (1842–1910) was head of the New York City Detective Bureau from 1880 until 1895. Biography Born in Dublin, Ireland to James and Rose Byrnes, he emigrated to New York as a child. He worked as a skilled gas-fitter until the start of the Civil War. He enlisted with Elmer E. Ellsworth's "Zouaves" in 1861 and served two years with that unit. After his service, Byrnes became a firefighter, joining Hose Company No. 21 in New York City. He remained as a firefighter until December 10, 1863, when he was appointed a police officer.[http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/fire/31-40/ch32pt2.html History of the New York Fire Department, Ch. 32, Part II] Byrnes rose in the ranks, first as a patrolman, then becoming a sergeant in 1869 and a captain in 1870. He gained renown through solving the Manhattan Savings Bank robbery of 1878. He became Detective Bureau chief in 1880.New York Press - William Bryk As inspector, Byrnes quickly won national distinction. He increased the detective force from twenty-eight to forty men. In four years it made 3,300 arrests. In 1882, he obtained legislative approval of changes in the department which gave him immense power. In 1886, Byrnes instituted the "Mulberry Street Morning Parade" of arrested suspects before the assembled detectives in the hope they would recognize suspects and link them to more crimes. Also that year, his book Professional Criminals of America''Byrnes, Thomas. 1886. ''Professional Criminals of America. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1969. was published. He built up a book of photographs of criminals, which he called the "Rogues Gallery". back alley, photographed by Jacob Riis in 1888, was the kind of environment Byrnes was in charge of policing.]] Byrnes' brutal questioning of suspected criminals popularized the term "the third degree",http://www.barrypopik.com/article/200/third-degree, which was apparently coined by Byrnes. From the descriptions, the third degree as practiced by Byrnes was a combination of physical and psychological torture.[http://www.bartleby.com/207/13.html XIII. Roosevelt comes—Mulberry Street’s Golden Age. Riis, Jacob A. 1901. The Making of an American] Jacob A. Riis, who as police reporter for the New York Sun knew Byrnes well, declared that he was "a great actor", and hence a great detective. Riis called him an unscrupulous "big policeman" and a veritable giant in his time. Despite the advances he brought to the police force, there is little doubt that Byrnes was corrupt. On a salary of $2,000 a year, he built a fortune of over $350,000, which he attributed to sound investment advice from his Wall Street patrons. In 1891, three years after publicly criticizing London police officials on the way they handled the Jack the Ripper investigations, Byrnes was faced with a similar crime in New York. Amid mammoth publicity, Byrnes accused an Algerian, Ameer Ben Ali (nicknamed Frenchy) of the crime. He was convicted despite the evidence against him being doubtful, but he was pardoned eleven years later.Wolf Vanderlinden, “The New York Affair” Ripper Notes -- part one issue 16 (July 2003); part two #17 (January 2004)http://rippernotes.com/carrie-brown-murder-part2.html, part three #19 (July 2004 ISBN 0975912909) In 1895, the new president of the New York City Police Commission, Theodore Roosevelt, compelled him to resign as part of Roosevelt's drive to rid the force of corruption.Investigative Historical Timeline In later life, Byrnes became an insurance investigator, opening a detective agency on Wall Street. At his death he was survived by his wife Ophelia and five daughters. In fiction Byrnes was featured as a fictional character in Jack Finney's time travel novel, Time and Again, and has now and then been a character in other historical novels. In addition, he was a character in the juvenile detective series, Broadway Billy, as well as a number of other detective "dime novels". His name appeared as the author on the fictional turn-of-the-century true-crime novel "The Bone Collector" which was featured in the film "The Bone Collector" starring Angelina Jolie. References Category:American police detectives Category:New York City firefighters Category:New York City Police Department officers Category:Union Army soldiers Category:Irish immigrants to the United States Category:People from Dublin (city) Category:1842 births Category:1910 deaths